Goblin Subjugation (1)
The forest was utterly still. Leaves blotted out the light until everything lay dim and dusky, a light mist drifting through the air. Nameless wildflowers bloomed here and there among the undergrowth.
Viewed across the whole kingdom, the Academy sat near the capital. Look closer, though, and it leaned hard toward the northern border—toward the Iron Mountains and the Brown Forest. Both the Iron Mountains and the Brown Forest were uninhabited domains of magical beasts. That was why forests untouched by human footsteps still held nature in its raw form, the paths remaining rough and treacherous. From time to time goblins and other beasts that had drifted south nested there and raided the sparse pioneer villages scattered through the woods.
Occasionally a request for subjugation support reached the Academy. The professors would then gather suitable students according to the difficulty and carry out the hunt alongside adventurers or soldiers. A proper measure of real combat experience was an essential asset for them, after all.
“It’s so damn hot…”
The late-spring heat tormented the fifty-odd students trudging the rough forest trail. They walked on, pricked by sharp thorns and scored by jagged branches.
“Hah… huff…”
Crane poured sweat like rain, perhaps because of his heavy frame. It looked as if he kept his mouth clamped shut so no one would scold a grown man for whining, yet anyone could see he was already at his limit.
I walked without complaint. Still, the heat had soaked my body through with sweat. What tormented me worse than the heat, though, was the heat that rose in me from time to time—the heat of estrus. My body would flush, my lower belly burn and throb.
It’s getting worse. What am I supposed to do?
Each time the heat came I slowed a little more, until Crane and I were trailing at the very rear of the column.
“Miss Blair. I’m sorry. Because of me you’re falling behind too.”
“Mm… No, I’m fine.”
It’s not because of you…
Another wave of heat rose; I nearly bit my tongue from the tension, but managed to hold it back.
“Wait—something’s off. What’s that sound…?”
I had heard a suspicious noise, a sound like something rubbing.
“Huh? I don’t hear anything.”
“Strange…”
I fell silent for a moment, turning the sound over in my mind. We had already come deep into the forest. If we were ambushed here… I had no idea how sophisticated the goblins’ tactics might be, but surely they wouldn’t—
“Crane, don’t let your guard down. Walk carefully. Something feels wrong.”
“Understood. But aren’t we lagging too far behind?”
He didn’t seem to grasp why I was warning him. Still, he obediently followed my words. He hesitated as if about to speak, then closed his mouth again.
After a while my throat grew dry. I opened my canteen and gulped water. Crane watched me for a long time before he spoke.
“I’m sorry, but could I have some water too?”
“What about your own canteen?”
“I already drank it all. I’m sorry.”
“Ah… fine.”
I was about to scold him, but the sight of his bulky frame made me shut my mouth again. I handed him the canteen, still two-thirds full.
“Gulp, gulp… Haah… That’s refreshing… Thank you.”
I took the canteen back, saw it was nearly empty, and felt my strength drain away.
That was when it happened.
—KRA-KRA-KRAASH!
A sound as if the sky itself were collapsing, and rocks and earth began to pour down from the slopes on both sides of the path.
“What? A landslide?”
At the same instant arrows flew in from every direction.
—Thwip! Thwip! Thwip!
A few of them hissed past my ears.
“Dodge! Dodge! Run! It’s an ambush!”
I bolted with Crane in the opposite direction from the arrows.
“Huff… huff…”
Crane fled far ahead of me, surprisingly fast for his size.
This guy is really fast when it comes to running away.
“Aaagh!!!”
A burning pain lanced through my right calf. I couldn’t even scream properly; I simply collapsed.
“Ugh… damn it!! What the hell!”
An arrow had taken me in the calf. It didn’t seem to have struck bone, yet the head had driven clean through from left to right and stuck out the other side.
Crane did not panic. He drew a knife, snipped off the arrowhead, and pulled the shaft free.
“Be a little gentler…”
The pain was enough to make me faint.
“I learned first aid thoroughly. To save a life when it counts, they said.”
He sprinkled emergency medicine from his pocket to stop the bleeding, then tore a strip from his clothes and bound the wound. The professor had handed each of us one dose before we set out.
“Thanks…”
“Hurry up and get on my back!”
I stood limping and climbed onto him.
“Hurry—let’s go, hurry!”
Fleeing was shameful. But Crane and I were nothing more than fledglings who had only just begun learning the sword. Running was the right choice. Life came first. That was simple common sense.
“Hwah… hwaah…”
We ran through the forest for roughly thirty minutes, half-crawling at times, and finally broke free of the danger zone. Exhausted, we found a crevice between rocks where we could hide and decided to rest a while.
“Miss Blair. Do you think we can get out of here alive? We’ve even lost the path.”
“Huh? I don’t know either.”
I had no leisure to worry about that. The bleeding had stopped, but only after I had lost a great deal of blood. Pain and fatigue left my head foggy; the world spun before my eyes. The arrow wound hurt as if I were dying.
“I’m sorry to say this in a situation like this. I have one request.”
“Wh… what is it?”
“It seems like we’re going to die here anyway, so could I touch your breasts just once?”
“What?”
Anger surged for an instant. Even if it was an age of youthful vigor, in a situation like this— Yet I forced myself to think coldly. I had already been shot; without Crane I could not take a single step. Still, I did not want a man touching my breasts. That was my honest feeling.
“That’s not allowed.”
I shook my head with a bitter smile. Crane, however, showed not the slightest hesitation.
“I know my place. I know I’m a man who doesn’t match Miss Blair. But in the twenty years I’ve lived, I’ve never once touched a woman’s breasts.”
“Can’t you just hold it in?”
I let out a long sigh and studied his face. His eyes were calm and cold. That gaze was already answering for him. If I handled this wrong, would he leave me alone in the forest?
“Hey, Crane… we’re friends, right?”
“Friends…”
He looked dazed for a moment.
“Are Miss Blair and I friends?”
He seemed briefly moved. I watched him, then casually swept my gaze around us. Fortunately there was still no sign of dangerous beasts nearby.
“Of course. At least I think so. We’re precious friends.”
I whispered it softly, in the most affectionate voice I could manage.
“I also treasure Miss Blair. But if we’re precious friends, you could grant one wish before we die, right? If I die like this it would be so unfair I don’t think I could even close my eyes.”
His gaze grew serious; his expression darkened further.
“Then only over the clothes, lightly. Just ten seconds…”
“Yes.”
Crane answered with a soft smile.
What kind of mess is this.
The moment I realized someone was about to touch my breasts, my heart began to pound madly.
“Fine. Then touch them.”
I drew a deep breath and forced my mind to settle.
“Then, excuse me for a moment.”
Crane swallowed hard and reached toward my breasts. The uniform blouse I wore was thin by nature, and with my breasts so large, even touching them over the cloth offered the finest sensation. On top of that, soaked with sweat, my bare skin already showed through.
“Ah…”
Crane lost himself in the feel of them. He knew perfectly well the act was improper. A gentleman must not casually lay hands on a lady’s body, and breasts especially were a delicate, sensitive place—he had been taught that. In truth he could not understand why she allowed it so readily. But it was simply good. For the past several days Crane’s mind had been filled with nothing but May’s breasts.
“Nnh…”
May’s tightly closed eyelashes trembled. Each time Crane’s hand collapsed the soft shape of her breasts she let out a small sigh. With every stroke over the cloth he felt the little button-like points at their centers grow a fraction harder.
Probably her nipples.
What would it feel like to touch the breasts hidden under the clothes?
If the nipples harden, do they change shape?
His cock was already swollen so hard it felt ready to burst. Guilt pricked him, yet even that could not stop him. He had liked her from the first moment he saw May. He liked her cute face—the slender nape, the narrow waist, the red lips, the jewel-like eyes. But her breasts were the best of all.
He stroked downward and lightly twisted a nipple.
“Hnnk…”
May’s expression crumbled. Her sweet breath washed over him. His cock had swollen enough to split his trousers. His heart hammered so violently it felt ready to explode. He pinched the nipple between two fingers and began to twist it left and right.
“Haah… haahk…”
May’s body twitched and trembled; lewd little moans slipped from her lips. Suddenly her eyes flew open.
“Ugh… hey! Stop it already—ten seconds are up!”
She covered her breasts with both hands, face flushed scarlet. But Crane had no intention of stopping.
Maybe Miss Blair liked it when I touched her?
Then maybe I can touch a little more?
He swallowed hard and opened his mouth.
“Could I touch them bare?”
“What?”
“It’s my last wish before I die…”
“Then… only ten seconds.”
May said it while biting her bright-red lips tightly shut.